Virality hit The Beaches like an ill-timed break-up in 2023. While the Toronto foursome had been making music for a decade, it was the raw audacity of a lead single off their EP Blame My Ex, “Blame Brett,” that catapulted them to a debut performance on Jimmy Kimmel, international sold-out tours, and a fervent new fanbase. Putting a bold twist on the break-up anthem—by repeatedly calling out an ex by name—frontwoman and bassist Jordan Miller, her sister and guitarist Kylie Miller, drummer Eliza Enman-McDaniel, and guitarist/keyboard player Leandra Earl were inundated with fan comments ranging from hatred towards Brett to straight-up idolatry. 

Nestled within this digital chorus was a singular voice—or possibly a bot, the band remains uncertain—named Jocelyn, who advocated for the band despite the hate. Jocelyn became the muse for one of the more introspective tracks off The Beaches' recently released album No Hard Feelings: “What we like to do as a band is showcase the fact that we are messy and we are imperfect, and the songs really do relate to that,” Kylie Miller says in a Zoom call in early August. “Sometimes people take it to this place where you're put on a bit of a pedestal and it becomes challenging to navigate."

In “Jocelyn,” the band addresses their adoring fans directly, the track serving as both a confession and plea to recognize their humanity. “False gods (false gods)/Everyone I thought I could trust in the world is a/Lost cause (lost cause)/I'm all bitch and no boss,” Jordan Miller croons. “What do you even see in me, Jocelyn, Jocelyn?/Why do you still look up to me, Jocelyn, Jocelyn?/You just got your PhD in politics/And I'm just phoning it in.”

In many ways, "Jocelyn" captures the essence of No Hard Feelings. The Beaches' latest studio album maintains the same pop-rock infectiousness found in Blame My Ex and their 2017 debut Late Show, while delivering the band's signature confessional moments like the raw question, "Was our whole relationship/Just your boyfriend's kink?" from "Did I Say Too Much?"

Still, No Hard Feelings distinguishes itself from predecessors through its portrayal of the band’s emotional evolution. Blame My Ex won fans over with its sheer audacity, including Jordan Miller's public reckoning with her ex-boyfriend along with beloved tracks like "Edge of the Earth" and "Shower Beer." No Hard Feelings reveals the aftermath of these daring confessions, depicts humbling accountability, and, perhaps most distinctly, embodies The Beaches' love for each other.

Whether mourning how they can’t masturbate without thinking of their exes in “Touch Myself,” grappling with queer coming-of-age in the wistful “Lesbian Of The Year,” or dancing it all out with the scream-along anthem “Last Girls At The Party,” No Hard Feelings renders each of band members’ personas and experiences in Technicolor.

Following the release of their latest album, FLAUNT asks guitarist Kylie Miller about The Beaches’ new music, their No Hard Feelings tour, and the band’s cover of “Ultimate” for the Freakier Friday film soundtrack.

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You recently performed as headliners for Rolling Stone’s Gather No Moss tour. What was it like ringing in the release of your new album that way?

It was so much fun. We were definitely really nervous because we've been touring so much that we haven't had a ton of time to get the show together, but we really managed to do it [in] crunch time. We were blown away by the response. Even though the record came out that day, the fans knew most of the words to all the new songs. It was such a wild experience for us because the last headlining show we had in Toronto was for 500 people, and I think there were like 2600 people at that show. It felt so amazing to be able to celebrate this new era of No Hard Feelings with so many of our fans.

You and the band have talked about how No Hard Feelings is partially centered on taking accountability for your individual actions within relationships. Because of that focus, does this album feel more personal than your previous work?

We think it definitely feels more personal. It's also all of our individual stories and kind of recognizing that maybe we're a little bit a part of the problem as well. Maybe we're going for people that don't necessarily serve us, or don't treat us the best… It's also really nice to be able to go through that as friends because we're having our own closure through these relationships falling apart, but also, we're getting our friends' perspectives on the relationships as well… Like I had a really shitty boyfriend that everybody hated. I didn't know at the time how they really felt, and now it's kind of like we're all clearing the air, airing out all the dirty laundry. And it's nice to put that into a song.

Bearing witness to your friends' relationships, there's just such an intimacy in that. It can sometimes strain relationships but also strengthen them.

Absolutely. I feel like it's only brought us together even closer, now that the toxic people in our lives are kind of not there anymore. We're able to basically vent to each other as friends. It's like a therapy session in a way. It's getting out all this anger, getting all the bad feelings out, and putting it down on paper and making a song from it.

Have you ever had any sort of apprehension about sharing intimate details about your lives?

It's definitely scary sometimes, especially when it's such a personal thing. If you're going through it, it's like, okay, we're really about to put this person on blast right now for the whole world. But I think it's just really what feels best. For instance, that line “Was our whole relationship just your boyfriend’s kink” was the line that we were or Leandra was kind of scared to put in the song. But it's the line that sticks out in that song and so many people can relate to. We're just chaotic. We're like, blow it up, and we'll see how it impacts our personal lives after.

Have you all had any fall-out in your personal lives after you’ve put something into a song?

A couple of exes definitely have gotten a bit salty about certain songs. We've also had a lot of people claim that songs are about them when they're not, which is really funny… But I think most of the time, if you're actively entering into a relationship with one of us, the reality is, you're probably going to get a song written about you. I feel like they should just sign that contract when you start dating one of us.

One of your newest songs, “Lesbian Of The Year,” feels like such a turning point in your discography. It almost feels more like a ballad. Did you all want there to be a clear emotional shift with that song?

We wanted to be able to showcase a different side to ourselves and show the world that we are more than just this one sound. There can be depth in what we're capable of. That song just naturally ended up sounding really sad, and it felt weird to push it to be too dancey or too rocking when it is such a vulnerable song dealing with things that are really challenging to navigate through—especially when our lives have changed so much in the past two or three years.

Do you all feel like your careers have been shaped by your identity as an all female-band?

It's been everything to us. When we were kids growing up, I remember when we all saw Avril Lavigne performing on stage, playing drums, playing guitar, that was the craziest, most inspiring thing that we'd ever seen. It blew all of our minds. Connecting over our love of Avril really was something that brought us together. Also being able to be those people for young women, being the next generation of Avril, for these girls, that's been such an incredible thing for us. That's the dream come true.

You also release outwardly queer music. Do you feel like you’ve become empowered to be more open about those parts of yourselves? What has that evolution been like?

We definitely wanted to share more from that perspective because we didn't want to just have one token queer song or two token queer songs. That's a very big part of our identity. We felt that it needed to be showcased more, especially on this album, considering Leandra went through two really awful breakups. I think going through a queer heartbreak experience is such a difficult thing to navigate, especially when you come out a little bit later in life. Comparing yourself to everybody else around you, it's a very hard thing to kind of figure out. It felt like something that we needed to discuss. 

Describe No Hard Feelings in a few words.

Fun and messy chaos.